App State men’s basketball traveled to Wilmington to play in the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic. The Mountaineers played three games in four days against three quality mid-major programs.
On Wednesday, the Black and Gold won a tight game against the Sam Houston State Bearkats, 66-63. The game was never separated by more than 5 points.
Graduate student forward CJ Huntley, the leading scorer for the Mountaineers going into the game, struggled from the field, only going 2 for 9. Other players stepped up, however, including junior guard Dior Conners and graduate student guard Jackson Threadgill who both had season highs, with Conners leading the way for the Black and Gold with 19 points.
The Bearkats led by one with under a minute left to play when redshirt senior guard Myles Tate hit a mid-range jumper to put the Mountaineers in the lead. Sam Houston State got a foul called on the other end, but forward Kalifa Sakho missed both free throws. Senior forward Jalil Beaubrun got the rebound and was fouled. Beaubrun made both free throws, Sam Houston State missed a game-tying three-point attempt and App State won the game.
On Friday, the Mountaineers followed the close win against Sam Houston State with a 72-50 drubbing of the Colgate Raiders.
Tate started off on fire for the Mountaineers, scoring 14 points in the first eight minutes of the game. 12 of those points came from deep.
He only had 1 point in the second half because he didn’t need to score. Huntley led the game with 17, and he and Beaubrun were unstoppable in the paint.
Beaubrun had 11 points and freshman guard Anthony Alston had 8 points, which were both season highs.
The defense for the Black and Gold was also great. App State got 8 more rebounds than the Raiders and held them to only 50 points.
On Saturday, the Mountaineers ended their time in Wilmington with a 76-61 loss to the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks, ending App State’s winning streak at four.
It was not the Black and Gold’s night from the field, shooting at a 39.6% clip, and struggling from deep, making only 2 three-pointers.
Huntley led the team in scoring with 17 and Beaubrun also had a nice night with 16 points and 11 rebounds, his first double-double as a Mountaineer.
The Seahawks lead got to as high as 22 and led from the 15:22 mark of the first half.
In total, the Mountaineers went 2-1 in the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic. Tate led the team in scoring with 41 points in the three games with Huntley right behind him at 40 points. Beaubrun, Conners and Threadgill were able to get their season highs while in Wilmington
App State will be back in action on Tuesday with a game against Mid-Atlantic Christian. It will be the Mountaineers’ first and only home game of December. The game will tip off at 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed live on ESPN+.